Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Academics

All academic work at a liberal arts university emphasizes the development of intellectual
skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, and written and oral communications.
Particular attention is given to developing the skills to research, assess, and appropriately
utilize the large amount of information that is available today.

The Bachelor of Arts degree in the American liberal arts tradition values both breadth
of study as well as specialization within a major field. For breadth of study students
complete Proficiency Requirements in English, Mathematics, and Foreign Language and
General Distribution requirements in Mathematics and Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities,
and the Fine Arts. For specialization students complete core courses and elective
classes in their major field of study. Students may complement their major with a
minor area of study.

While you will eventually choose an area of concentration--a major--there is a wide
range of required courses you'll take during your first two years that will expose
you to many subjects. We strongly believe that academic diversity prepares you to
make better decisions regarding your area of specialization and encourages the sort
of creative, flexible thinking required of successful citizens in today's world.

John Cabot University offers degrees in Art History, Business Administration, Classical
Studies, Communications, Economics and Finance, English Literature, History, Humanistic
Studies, International Affairs, International Business, Italian Studies, Marketing,
and Political Science.

To graduate from John Cabot University with a bachelor's degree, you must earn at
least 120 credits. Typically, one class is worth three credits, which reflects the
number of academic hours (45 minutes) spent in class each week.

Most students enroll in five classes every semester (one-half of the school year),
earning a total of 15 credits. If you enter JCU with zero credits, as do many American
high school graduates, you will typically earn enough credits to graduate in four
years (eight semesters) of study.

Many European and a few American students do come in with transferred credits and
are able to graduate in less time.

American colleges and universities often apply the following titles to students to
define progress toward graduation: Freshman (first year in college 0 to 30 credits),
Sophomore (second year in college 31 to 60 credits), Junior (third year in college
61 to 90 credits) and Senior (fourth and final year in college 91 to 120 credits).

American liberal arts universities pride themselves on the personal attention they
give to students. At JCU you will be assigned a faculty advisor, who not only guides
you through your choice of courses, but remains available to help with other problems,
and provide important guidance on internships, graduate school decisions and jobs.

JCU classes generally have between 10 and 25 students (an average of 15). These smaller
numbers permit professors to conduct discussions that elicit students' ideas, requiring
them to defend their opinions. The JCU liberal arts program places great emphasis
on student participation with in-class presentations and discussion, projects and
research papers as a normal part of the learning experience. Nearly all upper level
courses require that students learn how to access and make sense of the large amount
of information available on the internet. There is also a practical component that
underlies many courses that includes analysis of business cases and presentation of
material. Requirements such as these help you develop critical thinking, communication,
and research skills which are now a necessary part of career development.

John Cabot University prides itself on the geographic diversity not only of its students,
but also of its faculty. The faculty of John Cabot University have earned degrees
from such internationally respected colleges and universities as Harvard University,
Rutgers University, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania,
University of Chicago, University of Michigan, the University of Rome "La Sapienza,"
New York University, Stanford University, The London School of Economics, and Oxford
University.

As part of the hiring process, JCU professors must demonstrate their teaching excellence
and are periodically evaluated to ensure continued teaching excellence and best practices.

JCU uses the grading system used by most liberal arts schools in the United States
where professors ascribe letter grades (A,B,C,D, or F, sometimes followed by a + or
-) based on a 100 percent scale assessing students' work. Then following U.S. university
practice, JCU translates these letters into numerical values on the 4.00 scale with
0.00 being the lowest (F) and 4.00 being the highest (A).

See the following table for a grading reference:

Grade Letter

Grade Point

Outstanding A

4.00

A-

3.67

Above Average B+

3.33

B

3.00

B-

2.67

Average C+

2.33

C

2.00

C-

1.67

Below Average D+

1.33

D

1.00

D-

0.67

Failure F

0.00

JCU uses these numerical values to compute your semester and cumulative grade point
averages. The semester GPA (grade point average) represents the average of all classes
taken in a semester. The cumulative GPA averages all classes taken at JCU. Individual
classes are weighted in calculating your GPA based on their number of credits.

Students may access their grades online. The online transcript shows: a letter grade
for each course, semester GPA, and cumulative GPA. Students at JCU who do not maintain
a 2.00 cumulative GPA do not qualify for graduation.

Yes, we present the following guidelines to students to provide them with a general
idea regarding how letter grades are assigned at JCU. While each individual course
may have different assessment criteria for each grade depending upon the material
being taught, the general sense of academic expectations remains.

Grade

Description of Academic Work

A

Work of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides
a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content.
This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory
and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant
amount of reading beyond that required for the course.

B

This is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question
or problem raised. There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluate
theory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student's
own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture and reference material.
The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence
of reading beyond the required assignments.

C

This is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but
limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
This level of performance demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of
the material.

D

Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included. In effect, the student
has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.

F

This work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the
question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

Yes. John Cabot University is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of
the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (www.msche.org), one of the United States' major accrediting bodies. The academic degrees conferred
by John Cabot are recognized for admission to the + 2 in Italian universities, pending
further requirements, when accompanied by the Dichiarazione di Valore or the Statement of Comparability.